Entrepreneurs Share Their Productivity Hacks

You could exercise on a treadmill while taking a conference call (something that I do frequently). Yes you will be winded, but I assure you it won’t affect your thinking and communication skills. In fact, there are studies that show the brain neurons fire off at a higher rate while active!

Jamie Wong, founder and CEO of Yayable says “she’s found schedules and daily plans regularly get broken, so she started keeping three things in her life that she sticks to no matter what. She commits to one activity in each of the categories Create, Love, and Grow. Right now, for example, she’s learning how to play songs on her guitar (Create), keeping Thursday and Saturday nights reserved for friends (Love), and taking boxing lessons (Grow).”

Joe Silverman, founder of New York Computer Help:

“Complete the blog and get a mini-chocolate,” he says as an example. “Call up all customers who would like additional IT services and buy coffee from Dunkin Donuts. Reach my daily sales goal and eat a protein bar. The key for me is to stick to these incentives. If I don’t accomplish a goal, well, I don’t get the reward.”

Roger J. Hamilton, founder of the XL Group:

Hamilton wants to spend most of his time growing his business rather than maintaining it. That’s why he and his team members categorize every task as either a project or a process, and he then automates or outsources as many processes as possible so that he can focus on growing his brand. Answering emails, for example, is a constant process and one that can easily be handed off to an assistant so that he has more time to take care of high-level decisions.